A good, albeit humid, ride into the gig this morning.




"Cockpit Cam" :)




Felt good to ride in for the first time since Tour Divide.

Been missing my bike.

I hope to see some of you at the Insulin Pump Information Night later on today!

Have a good one!!

- Posted using BlogPress using my iPad from somewhere in the universe

If you are in central North Carolina and are interested in insulin pump therapy, come out this Tuesday night, August 28th, for Insulin Pump Information Night.  All of the pump manufacturers will be there, including Steve McGuinn the representative from OmniPod.

I will be hanging out at the the OmniPod booth talking about how I use their product and the advantages of tubeless pump therapy as a whole.

The information about the event, including the pump information class curriculum is below.

Hope to see you there!!

Insulin Pump Information Night 

Class is instructed by a Certified Diabetes Educator and is free! 
Opportunity to see all insulin pumps! 

Tuesday of August 28th
6:00-8:00 pm 

LOCATION: 
American Institute of Healthcare and Fitness 
8300 Health Park Raleigh, NC
Meeting Room
(Take Six Forks Rd. to Forum Dr., left on Health Park, follow signs to Conference Center)

Curriculum Overview: 
1. Challenges of Diabetes 

• BG Monitoring 
• Multiple injections 
• Meals 
• Erratic schedules 
• Carbohydrate 
• Counting 
• Costs 
• Physical activity 
• Sickness 

2. Insulin regimens 

• Conventional Multiple Daily Injections 
• Insulin Pump therapy 

3. What is a Pump 

4. Benefits of a Pump 
Improved glycemic control 

• Precise delivery 
• Decreased glucose fluctuations 
• Decreased hypoglycemia 
• Address hormonal issues and dawn phenomenon.

Freedom 

• Eliminate multiple injections 
• Eliminate strict eating 
• Sleep in 
• Exercise 

5. Definitions 

• Basal 
• Bolus 
• Example of typical day 

6. How does a pump work 

• Battery 
• Cartridge/Reservoir
• Programming 

7. Smart Pump Features 

• Calculates dose for carbs eaten and BG correction 
• Extended bolus features
• Insulin on board/Active Insulin 
• Reminders and alarms 

8. Infusion Sets 

• Straight
• Angled
• Change every 2-3 days 

9. Candidate 

• Insulin requiring Type 1 or Type 2 
• A1C above 7 
• BG fluctuation 
• Hypoglycemia 
• Pregnancy 
• Need for precise dosing 

10. Who makes a good pumper 

• BG checks 4 times daily 
• Carb counting 
• Able to troubleshoot 
• Support system 
• Realistic expectation 

11. Challenges 

• Insurance 
• Increase BG checks 
• Learning period 
• DKA 
• Site/Skin issues 

12. Moving forward 

• Visit the booths 
• Visit the websites 
• Talk to your insurance company 
• Talk to your doctor about which pump 
• Continue seeking educational opportunities 
• TIPS Meetings

Gwen's Diabetes Fairytale

NOTE: August 21-28 The Type1Rider Organization will be sharing our Sister Organizations (Blue Heel Society) Blog posts for the WEGO 'Advocate For Another' Blog Carnival.

Day 5 Post: Once Upon a Time...write a story about your community as though you are a children's author. 

ENJOY!!

This is Gwen. She has Type 1 diabetes or T1D.

Type 1 diabetes means your pancreas doesn't work.

Gwen needs to take her blood sugar every 3 hours or more.

She also needs to take insulin in a syringe or an insulin pump.

Sometimes Gwen feels sad because she needs to stop in the middle of having fun to test her blood sugar.

Her mom finds other people with T1D online who go through the same things she goes through. This is the diabetes online community or the D.O.C.

Gwen's mom finds a mom in the D.O.C. whose daughter has T1D too and is her age!! They exchange emails and chat because they live miles away from each other. 

Gwen and her mom find they can go to the D.O.C. whenever they need help, have a question or want to share diabetes related things. This makes Gwen and her mom happy!

Gwen wants all T1 kids to know they are NOT alone!! You can find many friends and support with the D.O.C.!

WEGO Blog Carnival Day 4: "From Inside The Fishbowl"

NOTE: August 21-28 The Type1Rider Organization will be sharing our Sister Organizations (Blue Heel Society) Blog posts for the WEGO 'Advocate For Another' Blog Carnival.

Day 4 of the WEGO 'Advocating For Another' Blog Carnival I will use one of the 'Bonus Prompts' "From inside the fishbowl". People think they know what your life is like – but appearances can be deceiving. Write a paragraph about what your life looks like from the outside looking in – then write a paragraph about what it’s actually like from inside.

Looks certainly can be deceiving in our life with diabetes. In fact to anyone familiar with the struggles of addiction knows that the circle of destructive behavior is compared to insanity, and defined as "doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different (better) results". In that context, managing daily life with diabetes in our house is plain and simple insanity. Not only because doing so 24/7/365 can certainly make one insane, but we tend to do the same thing every day thinking that if we do what we did the last time it "worked", it will always "work" the same way...but it doesn't. Many think that because of my Advocacy work, and that after living with diabetes for almost two decades, we would have it down to an art. WRONG AGAIN! It just isn't that cut and dry. Some may also think that as a Caregiver and Husband together, the Care somehow flows from me the same way my everlasting and unconditional love does for my diabetic Wife. Not quite...

What is is really like from the inside is Caregiving & Love are usually not one in the same, especially when it comes to me 'suggesting' or 'advising' my favorite diabetic on how best to care for her condition and/or body. Especially if it is a change, modification, or complete overhaul of a task related to her care. I may have been educated about every aspect possible of diabetes care, but that doesn't always mean I am ready, willing, and able to confront what needs to happen in our diabetes care, especially when there is pain involved, physical or otherwise. As a Caregiver, I may know what needs to happen. As a Husband, I am many times a bumbling idiot that cannot see the forest through the trees. For that matter, my Wife gives more care to ME & her disabled Father that lives with us and she takes care of, than I could possibly give back. In a nutshell, this combination of living with a medical condition that could kill at any time, trying to be the best Husband, Caregiver & Advocate all at the same time, isn't fun, easy or boring.

May I leave you with an example of how insane I can get. While putting together this Blog post, I keep wondering if fish can be diabetic, and just how many carbs there are in Fish Food...

WEGO Blog Carnival Day 3: Challenge Accepted!

NOTE: August 21-28 The Type1Rider Organization will be sharing our Sister Organizations (Blue Heel Society) Blog posts for the WEGO 'Advocate For Another' Blog Carnival.

Day 3 of the WEGO 'Advocating For Another' Blog Carnival prompts us to write about how "Leading a community isn’t all sunshine and ice cream – it’s hard. Write a post that delves into 3 challenges that you face as a Health Activist." 

Let me start with the challenge of the *Stigma* associated with many health conditions, especially an invisible disease such as diabetes. This *Stigma* can present itself in different ways,including people with diabetes not talking about it with anyone at all, personally and professionally. The *Stigma* may prevent some of those not currently diagnosed to get checked, even though they may be in a higher risk group. The *Stigma* also is causing waves in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC) itself as we sometimes get sidetracked on the whole "Type" issue.

When we speak to our Friends, Fans, and Followers, the challenge of making sure that *Hope* is paramount when dealing with a life threatening medical condition on a daily...check that...HOURLY basis, as well as the dreaded co-morbidities associated with Diabetes. On a personal note, I have learned that all to well as of late. *Hope* is, and has to be, a multi-faceted aspect that should breed *Hope* among our Communities. *Hope* is an emotion that when fostered through positive interaction among our Friends, Fans, and Followers, reaps benefits that cannot be measured my Metrics or Pageviews or Website hits.

One of the other challenges I face personally when addressing our Communities is the *Separation* of how/what I do as a Caregiver in my Personal life, as opposed to how/what I do (and say) publicly as an Advocate. That may sound a bit hypocritical but let me explain. After almost nineteen years living with diabetes as my Wife's Caregiver, she know's her stuff & body a lot better than I do. I may know a bit more because part of what I do in my Advocacy work, is each week perusing nearly one thousand News articles, Education opportunities, and Research & Study findings, in order to stay up to date and informed as I carry out my Advocacy work. Sometimes as a Caregiver if I try to impress upon my Wife what I learn as an Advocate, I come across to her as the 'Diabetes Police' and things can get ugly.

The Prompt is to talk about three things, but allow me to quickly talk about another challenge that can be the most frustrating. The challenge of taking what we do as an Organization and what we present online, and getting people to take it to the Outernet (offline), and carry our Message & Mission forward to the masses, or what sometimes is called 'In Real Life (IRL)'. This challenge is very frustrating, but well documented, and is usually called "Slactivism". Don't get me wrong, I am just as guilty and it isn't really a negative thing, it is just that it is much easier for us as a Community to click a 'Like' button, digitally sign an online Petition, Copy/Paste to share, etc.

It may not be all 'Sunshine and Ice Cream', but I would never quit doing what I do, or what we collectively do as an Organization, because the satisfaction ALWAYS outweigh the challenges we face, because we have the humble honor of leading our Communities. Without our Friends, Fans, and Followers, we would be nothing.

T.R. Moore, Chief Communications Officer
Type1Rider.org
BlueHeelSociety.org

WEGO Blog Carnival Day 2 - Fave things/Silver linings

NOTE: August 21-28 The Type1Rider Organization will be sharing our Sister Organizations (Blue Heel Society) Blog posts for the WEGO 'Advocate For Another' Blog Carnival.

Today's challenge is to write 5-10 favorite things about your community. Well, I think I covered that pretty well with my post from yesterday.

So, I'm blogging a bonus: Silver Linings; what unexpected joys, lessons, experiences, or blessings have you found in caring for someone else?

This is hard because with every silver lining there is a storm cloud...I'll try to stay with the silver lining!

The first silver lining that comes to me is my family is super close. As most of you loyal BHS readers know, not only do I have two Type 1 girls (one of which was recently diagnosed), I also have a hemophiliac son. The fact that I have three kids with chronic illnesses can do one of two things. It can make you or break you. In our case it has made our family stronger. Now, please, don't think our family is all rainbows and unicorns!! It's actually far from it! But as a family unit...our core is STRONG!!

Some other silver linings are:

Mentoring to others

Maturity for my kids (this is a storm cloud too...having chronically ill kids makes them grow up way to fast)

Community for us all

Independence for my kids (another storm cloud but silver lining too!)

Advocating with my kids (never thought I'd be political!)

Being involved with my kids (they may say that's a storm cloud, sometimes!)

Empathy to others

Being strong enough to know I CAN take care of my kids

This was a good exercise for me to really think about the GOOD in the everyday things I do to keep my kids alive and safe. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the storm cloud that we don't even see the silver lining. So I challenge you, the reader, to find YOUR silver lining!! HINT...it might be right in front of you!

Day 1 of the WEGO Blog Carnival - Portrait Post

NOTE: Starting today & running for 7 days, the Type1Rider Organization will be sharing our Sister Organizations (Blue Heel Society) Blog posts for the WEGO Blog Carnival.

Day 1: Portrait Post

Blue Heel Society has decided to participate in another WEGO Blog Challenge for the week. It runs Tuesday-Tuesday. Hope you enjoy!!

Today I am to write a descriptive portrait of my community. Share qualities that make them, them! 

Now to describe the DOC (Diabetes Online Community)...

First off...you are all my rock!! 

You are the first people I share the highs and lows, quite literally, of diabetes. No matter what time of day or night it is I know you are but a key stroke away. 

When our second daughter was above 500...guess where I went? Yep, the DOC. There were two ladies, in particular, that even though they were MILES away from me, were there for me. Checking in and surrounding me with love when I told them of my daughters diagnosis. I will never be able to thank them enough! 

And it's not just for me...I've seen us all rally around each other. Be it a newly diagnosed member, a Mom/Dad/Caregiver doubting their abilities, pump/cgm advice...you ask it, you'll get a TON of response or a shoulder to lean on. 

Some other descriptions of our DOC community:

                                              HOME           LOVE           HOPE          

                                         HUGS         MAMA BEAR        FAMILY

I have a great, supportive family but they don't quite get the everyday trials and tribulations of raising three kids with chronic illnesses. They are there for me. They lend an ear and a shoulder if need be but if you don't walk in my shoes you don't get what I do and that's okay, however, sometimes it's just nice to have someone "get it"! and YOU all know it, live it and get it!! You are my family, my home. You show love, hope and give hugs if and when needed. And the Mama Bear? Oh, the Mama Bear don't care...she'll come out at a moments notice for ANY of our T1 kids. Why? Because we are family! If there is silver lining to any of this daily diabetes crap we put up with, it's the DOC!

I don't usually like to post advertising spots, but in this case I wanted to make an exception.

This is a great message.

Find YOUR greatness.

Keep Choppin'!